American political discourse has always been dominated by narrowly defined, public wedge issue driven polemics. Partisans of one party or ideology mindlessly blurt jingoistic bumper sticker slogans at each other and their opponents. This is willing self induced blindness, active ignorance and unconscious herd behavior.

This is how a nation of over three hundred million people are so readily managed. Keep the population more or less divided into two political camps, Republican and Democrat, and manage their perception, not in relationship to their government, but in relation to their opposition to the other party. More times than not, the public won't be voting for what they want, for its highest vision for itself, but against what the other party proposes. Not too much different than Michigan vs Ohio State football fans. Both fan bases spend their Saturdays rooting for their bitter rival to lose as much as they root for their own team to win.That makes college football a passionate, enjoyable, pastime. But it is tragic for a nation to decide governing principles by.This is how disasters like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz happen.

When the late 70s arrived, a right wing backlash was building steam. It was typified and focused on the Presidential candidacy of Ronald Reagan. Along with Reagan's rise came a slew of 'dog-whistle' phrases that inspired the angry white male, mostly southern, mostly rural. They felt they were losing their primacy in American society. They were resistant to the sorely needed changes being instituted in the United States. They felt they were being infringed upon. They were fearful, fear many times manifests as anger. Reagan tapped into that anger, a very powerful force. It was palpable. This link spells out clearly Reagan's appeal to the neo-racist, angry rural white male very clearly. Reagan's campaign harkened back to a fantasy fueled nostalgia about an all-white America, introduced the worship of Wall Street and "free market" capitalism, criminalized the poor and mentally ill and re-introduced the militarism that had been severely discredited during the Vietnam era. A strident patriotic fervor engulfed the country. The right wing backlash from the left, liberal 60s beginnings of American transformation was swift, powerful and complete. Twenty five years after Reagan left office, that backlash is still in full effect.

That backlash now lives in the tea-party movement and some libertarians that are extremely right wing. The Republican party is now seen as too moderate or 'leftist' for even them. That is what happens when the critical issues of a nation become reduced to bumper sticker slogans, and terms that describe ideas which become more and more narrowly defined or their meanings changed altogether.

Benign terms that used to appeal to the better parts of human nature, now are demonized, redefined or severely narrowly defined to unsavory political language. Appeals to community become 'collective', collective as associated with communism. Appeals to egalitarianism becomes redefined as forced 'government' invasions of 'property rights'. Appeals to socioeconomic justice become dismissed as 'socialist'. When a man that is black becomes President, then hysterical screams of "we want our country back" start being heard repetitively. You'll hear that Obama, who is actually a status quo agent of the corporate Wall Street bankers lobby and the military industrial complex; being described as a "socialist", Kenyan Muslim and cries to see his birth certificate. Efforts to institute any relief to wage stagnation, healthcare relief, erosion of the middle class and poverty become hysterically shouted down as big government communism or at the very least part of "the socialist agenda". Any populace influenced government effort is decried by tea-partiers and libertarians as "too much government intrusion". In short this society is held hostage to 'reactionaries'.

Ask yourself - What or who is the ultimate benefactor of reactionary political forces?CorporationsCorporate interests are now in control of government and the election process. They own the major information channels and the 'news' reporters. They set the agenda for national discussion, which has become more deflective and distracting from the truth than enlightening or empowering to the people. The tea party and many staunch right wing libertarians do not understand that what they propose for this country won't work for we the people. Conservative/Tea-Party/Libertarian policies are custom crafted for corporations.

I understand that simply writing this will result in antagonism. I do not care. I have friends that are libertarian, I have had this same discussion with many of them in person. They are not as myopic as they come off to be, they are frustrated at the way things are now, they've been told who to blame, who to hate; (liberals, socialists, you know, all the usual suspects). They cling to their fenced in ideological label like someone clings to a light pole during high winds. The winds of change are indeed howling...that is scary for many. When those winds are howling through the trees in ones backyard, one will manufacture a quaint 'memory' of simpler, more tranquil times past, in this case the corporate media will supply that meme (sub-consciously) for you and tell you whose fault it is that you lost that fantasy dream-time.Divide and conquer, separate by opinion, no need to think about it, it's already been thought out for you, just repeat the slogan we've provided for you to anyone that resists.

George Orwell is doing tantrums in his grave screaming - "I tried to warn you!"

They’re called on as Aja, Oshun, Oya and Yemoja of the African tradition. Named Isis, Bestet and Ma-at of the Kemetic cosmology (ancient Egyptian). Honored as Devi and Kali of the Hindu tradition, the Native American goddess expressions of Atira and Maja. Ancient European pagan traditions call her Gaia, the personification of mother earth. The names are literally infinite. As endless as the spirit of God, the divine mother.

For millennia she has been virtually invisible, ignored, overshadowed, by masculine gods of war, acquisition and retribution. Jehovah's jealously, Allah's aloofness, Brahma's enigmatic stoicism and the heavenly father of Jesus' duplicitous, vengeful nature, has humanity precariously on the brink of violent global catastrophe.

– “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way, on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Polarizing self identity terms such as man-woman, masculine-feminine, boy-girl etc are becoming less useful in the 21st century. They're still handy language tools of description, but they're passing as identities. Women are embracing their masculine facets, while men are becoming less hesitant to express some feminine aspects about themselves. Gender roles are meshing. But, the old roles are not dying; they're receding to give space, to allow for men to nurture feeling. While women are exhibiting a capacity to embrace some masculine aspects as builders, protectors and providers. Since 1960 the number of American households with women being the primary breadwinner has increased from 11% to 40% today. There are several factors that contribute to this cultural shift; however, women's expanding role in the family is undeniable.

Men's role in the family is expanding also, even if they're the primary breadwinner. Men are becoming more adept at child-rearing, hearth keepers. The role of homemaker is becoming a team effort, as is the role of bread-winner.

This dawning outward shift, expansion of gender roles are not one-dimensional occurrences. They are born of a much deeper evolutionary shift in humanity.

“When we practice sacred sexuality we are working with cosmologically rooted principles, balancing the heavenly yang (male energy) of the universe with the all-knowing, life-giving yin (feminine energy) of the earth within ourselves.” ~ John Maxwell Taylor, Eros Ascending: The Life-Transforming Power of Sacred Sexuality

The yin-yang image above is a powerful visualization showing harmonizing of mankind's collective image and identity. The flow of life, the shift from day to night, summer to winter, masculine to feminine. Balance, life will always balance itself, if we allow it to. This unifying integration originates in the soul, the sacred psyche of collective humanity.There is much resistance. Many people, especially men, liked things the way they were. Masculine, authoritarian gods, who will send one to eternal damnation for 'disobedience'. Those that resist this balancing flow are living in illusion.

The emerging sacred feminine sees human beings as extensions of 'God', not as children or possessions of God. That idea distinction alone is revolutionary. It sends one looking deeper inside themselves for spiritual/emotional understanding. Religions are a viable framework for navigating this life. However, religion can be blinding, constrictive shackles, especially the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The emerging sacred feminine allows humanity to manifest the wholeness of life's experience. Men embracing their sacred feminine, will still be men, more complete men. Women allowing their masculine aspects to emerge will still be women, just more so.

“imagine the desertmothers, with hair tangledtighter than their theologyand breasts that flowed milkand mystic wisdom. theyknew how to draw the singingsigils in the sand, how to digrough and bitten fingersinto desiccated dirt for waterto wet the lips of their young.

women of hips and heft, wholearned how to burnbeneath the wild and searingsun, who made loud loveagainst the star-flecked threatof night, who knew that strength is not always a matter of muscle. imagine your ancestresses, the prophetesses of the arid lands, before these starched traditions and pews too hard to pray from, who bled true ritual and birthed their own fiercesouls at creation's crowning--” ~ Beth Morey

Humanity is learning, slowing learning, that the masculine way of imposing its will on the earth and each other, ultimately leads to calamity. We are on the brink of environmental catastrophe, devastating world war and regression back to the dark ages. We are in the midst of soul trying times. The powers that are will not relinquish willingly or gracefully, not even if they bring humanity to the brink of annihilation.

The collective of humanity will have to refuse to be ruled by these fearful men. It's happening as we speak. The fearful male ego is desperately acting out, trying to hold its primacy. What they're doing now are the last acts of desperation. The emergent new world has reached its due date. Just as a baby in the womb is conscious of its mother's breathing...we can collectively hear her breathing. Birth is a turbulent process. As birthing mothers know...just relax, push in a timely manner and breathe through it.

Encountering Buddha on the road is false enlightenment. Kill all your concepts, ideas and fantasy about what the Divine looks and feels like. Learn to trust"The Cloud of Unknowing"

Blind men and the Elephant.

This why we should euphemistically "kill the Buddha", meaning destroy any mental images which limit our receptiveness to deeper experiences of 'the 'Unknowable'. The sacred unknown, which can be experienced, but never sufficiently expressed to another.~ Duane Townsend

Intellectually clutching a concept of 'God' is like trying to hold a cloud in a cage.

So...let it all go. Trust the Divine in you enough to dismantle every thought about 'God' that you clutch for dear life. It is those clenching, limiting thoughts that hinder the Sacred in you from freely manifesting ~ Duane Townsend

"Trying to know 'God' is like blind men describing an elephant by feel. We know the texture, the scent, we may even hear it breathe. But we cannot express the wholeness of the reality...The whole of 'God' is unknowable." ~ Duane Townsend

"At the heart of all truth lies a radiant cloud of unknowing, a glorious nugget of doubt, a shining core of impermanence."~ James K. Morrow

"Did the gods once mingle with humankind, or is Homer a visionary madman, or, what is worse, a mere poet, a maker-up of beautiful falsities, an elegant liar? I shall grapple with that perplexity, only to emerge as I went in, in a cloud of unknowing, if perhaps a little the wiser." ~ Eva Brann

“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.” ~ Meister Eckhart

"There comes a time when the dedicated, devoted pursuit of Spirit becomes the very thing which blinds us to the wholeness. Every journey requires a season of agnosticism, a sacred withdrawal from all that you think you're sure of about God. A time when we're under the Cloud of Unknowing." ~ Duane Townsend

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within." ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“Let us take some event in the life of humanity. For instance, war. There is a war going on at the present moment. What does it signify? It signifies that several millions of sleeping people are trying to destroy several millions of other sleeping people. They would not do this, of course, if they were to wake up. Everything that takes place is owing to this sleep.” ~ Gurdijeff

“Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out.” ~ Alan Watts

January 1, 2015 will be no different than December 31, 2014...or August 10, 2013 or April 18, 2011; unless, we do something different. There is nothing magical that will happen when the clock turns to midnight. The zeitgeist of our times is not on a schedule. As a very wise supervisor once told us in a meeting: "we are not time oriented around here, we are task oriented."

I believe such is the state of human conscious evolution. There are no set dates, deadlines, or timelines that determine human events. The trajectory of humankind modifies as a result of conscious acts , fueled by passionate intent. We all know the insecure state that we exist in now. Too many people are one paycheck, or illness, or pink slip, from destitution.

We all know that we are one disastrous weather event from homelessness. Environmental calamity is imminent anywhere, or everywhere, economic collapse is closer than anyone, including myself, is willing to admit. Racial conflict, hate mongers impiously spit venom, corporations own governments, and the people are voiceless, the rich and celebrities are worshiped like gods of the Greek pantheon. On the surface, humanity looks to be in a sad state, teetering on the brink.

But bubbling up from the sub-conscious of collective humanity is a remembering. We are not barreling down rickety tracks on a run-away train, it just looks like that. Each one of us, personally, individually can contribute to slowing the train down enough to jump off. We're remembering that the engine is fueled by our consent, our co-operation...the more we blindly accept, co-operate against our own conscience, compassion, dignity, and our own best interests, the more the train is fueled and accelerates.

For the coming new year, I would like to offer three simple, yet transformative acts that will get into the collective consciousness of humanity. Acts that will switch the train to a sturdier track, away from the hairpin curves at harrowing speed. Even small, personal, singular actions have a butterfly effect on the whole of human consciousness.

1.) Help someone this year coming, in a way that puts you out, in a way that takes you out of your comfort zone. I'm not talking about a family member or friend, that's too commonly easy. I mean help a complete stranger that could never return the favor. Don't go the extra mile, go the whole distance with them. Don't worry about finding the opportunity, that will present itself when you decide to do this; I assure you. You've been unconsciously walking or driving by the opportunity to do this all the time. One of the major benefits of something like this is the re-emergence of trust.

2.) You'll be buying gifts this year. Birthdays, anniversaries, husband or wife 'just because' gifts. Find a local crafts-person or artist and buy something to gift from them. This takes money out of the corporate machine and puts it directly into the pocket of a real person.Make a concerted effort to donate whenever possible to your favorite blogger, or someone working diligently to raise the consciousness of humanity. Not someone espousing a political cause or ideology, our solutions are past politics now. I mean someone simply doing the thankless job of helping humanity be reminded of it's better nature. Your support of them (us) is invaluable. On the left side of this page are some links to sites that would appreciate your reading, viewing and supporting if at all possible.

3.) Consciously let go of EVERYTHING that you think you know. That is the only way to learn something new, to see things in a new way. Nothing transformational ever happened with the same beliefs we always held. New things happen when we start thinking and seeing in new ways. So relax your grip on your knowledge, knowledge changes all the time, what was true one day will not be true on another day. Be intellectually fluid...use your gut feelings more, let your heart decide some things. There is nothing wrong with 'logic', unless you use logic in a narrow, unyielding manner.

Walk around with these suggestions. If one, or all, sits comfortably with you, please act.Talking about it time is over, the time of talk was necessary...now is the walking it out time.

“I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.” ~ Buckminster Fuller Please join me in imagining origins and endings. Let us wonder...Was there ever a time when the universe did not exist?When there was nothing - no thing?Is there a coming time when all physical existence ends, for everything?

Let us creatively imagine. Creative imagination is like wandering into virgin forest, or sailing uncharted waters. Let us work our visionary muscles for a while. Let's look over the walls of common, accepted knowledge and conventional beliefs, let our minds off the leash to run in the park. Our jumping off point will be what we presume to know, what science has told us, and what religion has hinted at. We will color the blank spots in our knowledge with creative perception. We're not asserting what we imagine to be true, just allowing ourselves to feel what imagined realities feel like. Freeing our minds for a while. Who knows what we will find.So, please join me, let's wander into the most fundamental mystery mankind has ever known.

What if the universe has always existed, that there was never a time when the cosmos was not physically manifest. Let us contemplate past the boxed in polarities of science and the big bang, see beyond religion and let there be light beliefs.

Suppose it's neither? Suppose it's both?

The individual human mind is a finite quantity, it seems to be hard wired for limited experiences; birth-death, beginnings-endings, comings-goings. The individual mind operates in duality, polarities, and seems to see its own existence as an event, a circumstance, a temporary experience and even at that, humans will never use our whole personal mental capacity.Some of us can envision and experience the universe as an infinite process that flourishes in time, and outside of the constraints of time.. As an eternal, timeless space of experience. The earth formed and will one day be gone. The sun formed and one day it will explode into a cinder and take our solar system with it.Do those events mean consciousness ends?Does the space earth, the Sun and solar system, everything the universe inhabits, including the empty space, dissipate into nothingness?What does nothingness, the absence of any-thing, including space, look like?How can anything form from the void, barren of any-thing, even space, if no-thing exists?

Here in time, and three dimensions that which is called 'space' is experienced as an emptiness, a vast nothingness. It is erroneously called 'a vacuum'.The physical universe, even if we could see all of it, is only about five percent of what we could call 'normal matter'. Seventy percent is called 'dark energy' and about twenty five percent is 'dark matter'. Nasa.gov says about dark energy - "﻿﻿More is unknown than is known. We know how much dark energy there is because we know how it affects the Universe's expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery."About dark matter Nasa states - "We are much more certain what dark matter is not than we are what it is. . ."

Perhaps the five percent of the natural physical universe that we experience through our limited human senses and various instruments, is the product of eternal, infinite dark energy. What if there were no actual big bang? What if physical, common matter simply emerges, or precipitates, or evolves out of dark energy and matter?What if it is our limited intellectual, and sense capacity that hinders our experience and understanding of the whole universe?What if this expansion of the universe is reflective of our expansion of consciousness? The more our conscious awareness and knowledge increases, the more the universe expands. That the universe and we are fundamentally connectedCan you hold a vision of a time when there was literally nothing, no-thing?If you're theist (god created all), then isn't god something?If you're a big banger (purely science based), if there was a big bang, then what was it that went boom?Science speaks of the singularity, isn't that singularity a thing, something?Was there ever a time when consciousness did not exist?Did the emergence of matter birth consciousness, or did consciousness manifest the universe?I'm simply asking...remember we're imagining here.

Time is a polarized concept. Past and future, with the present totally dependent on a point in time and place in space. All perceptions of the human mind, which experiences itself as separate, can only be seen through the prism of the narrow time and space context. When one endeavors to see past their individual mind, to make the effort to imagine what universal vision feels like, then one begins to experience their self, and the universe as an infinitely evolving organism, oneself and the universe become a singularity. A magnificent, living, breathing consciousness that experiences itself as galaxies, stars, comets, planets and us. Time and place in space becomes little more than a narrowly defined experience, albeit a meaningful experience, but nevertheless, a minuscule peek-hole look into the wonder of the whole.

There is a universal conscious mind that was never created, and always existed. It is known by many names: God to theists, the singularity by materialists, the nature of its being is literally incomprehensible, but experiential. It is what the ancient mystics call - the ground of Being-. Everything that is, grows from the fertile soil of this ground of Being. So as you ponder the delicate reality that is your life; gaze inward occasionally and behold the ground your stalk of life emerges from, ponder the roots buried deeply into that ground of Being. Appreciate the eternal, ethereal nutrients that feed your Being-ness. You didn't just happen. You always were; I AM.

Faith is an intellectual aid for not knowing, an accepted belief that lacks the deeper illumination of the direct experience. Knowing only comes from experience.Any true Love you've ever experienced is a knowing of 'God', not just romantic love, anything, or situation, or person that you've accepted unconditionally, seeing their imperfections but not focusing on those. Expand on that to loving all things and everyone, whether you 'like' them or not. The journey to that transcended way of being requires radical forgiveness; what? you thought this was easy?

Start by forgiving yourself, not excusing yourself; not transferring responsibility to another person or circumstance, but really forgiving yourself. Chalk up your transgressions against yourself and others to simply not knowing any better. Now work outward; forgiving your family and friends and then the world. The forgiveness journey can be cathartic, emotionally draining (a good thing), and personally irritating as hell, but it's also liberating in a way you've never experienced before.

Don't think this journey is something you can get done on a weekend. This journey will literally take years according to what you've done to yourself and others, but don't worry, it's a Love journey and Love will be with you every step of the way. Now you're really knowing Love...Love is much more than surface affections, butterflies and rainbows. Love is sometimes a day by day sledge hammer rock busting to reveal your true self buried in the stone. We are self created human beings...but some of us have let regrets, grudges and injuries do the sculpting, actually we all have. Do not even think of trying to forgive another person if you haven't begun your self forgiveness journey...Scan your memory...that recollection of yourself that makes you cringe? That's a good place to start. Don't worry about how to do this...when the student is ready the teacher will appear, a teacher who has always been there waiting for you to show up. Most times the teacher is found in the silence of your being, check there first.

Note how your life experience changes, you'll see things you've never seen before because you're looking with integrity from your heart, not just your mind.

"It is tragic how few people ever ‘possess their souls’ before they die… Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation..." ~ Oscar Wilde

Possibly the most enduring human downfall of this age is our habit of seeking our validation, our identity, the resolution of our identity and character from outside of ourselves. Looking to authority figures, religion or political ideologies, the hand me down beliefs of others and accepting those as definitions of ourselves. This has made humanity easily manageable by those that would spitefully exploit us.

There is a definite reason that ancient mystics, shamans, artists, genuine free thinkers and devoted seekers of the Spirit have for the mostly existed on the outside of society. Society and the cultural operating system that regulates this rigid conformist mindset. This carrot and stick consumerist system that rewards laboring for your external needs, which are never really satisfied, because for the most part you get a bill for them every month. This creates a sense of insecurity. A religious system that further feeds the insecurity in a more personal manner with the fundamental idea that you are guilty for being born, and you need salvation or a savior. That salvation entails dutifully working for your living and obeying restrictive religious doctrine that over time pilfers your creative soul, robs you of imagination and sense of wonder. You lose your Presence, you forget who you are. Your core identity becomes as a consumer, you are what you own, a citizen...a job title, a political, racial, or religious label and you relate to others in the same manner. They aren't seen as human reflections of yourself. Your ego labels them either friend of foe according to their stated beliefs and adopted labels.

"The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around, the real you is the whole universe" ~ Alan Watts

This realization is more a remembrance, although it can feel like an epiphany. When one realizes that their occupation or religious/political affiliation, their family status or any other culturally imposed label is not the whole of their self-hood. Yes, many people live their lives and die without realizing the true depth of their being. But, we're starting to get reflections from others, mystics ancient and mystics present now, of the deeper reality of human being-ness. Some call it 'Universal Consciousness', some call it 'God within', some call it 'enlightenment' or 'Spiritual awakening'. No matter what it's called, the experience of that remembrance is tangible and profound.

The remembrance that we are the conscious presence of the whole universe experiencing itself as us, we as individuated conscious beings are focal points of universal experience. The surface level of this experience are the five physical senses. There are deeper sensual perceptions commonly known as our intuitive' senses, the gut feeling, the knowing without knowing how you know. This is called by the mystics -The Presence.

Ancient mystic traditions term this Samādhi, the unification of the knower and the known, the deep merging of the experience and the One that experiences. This is what spiritual seekers call - Oneness. You are everything and no-thing. You are everywhere and no-where. One with the conscious Presence of creation, the conscious presence of creation that always existed, has no beginning or end, it is always I AM, there was never 'a time' that this Presence was not; I AM. This is the eternal, this Presence exists in this time and outside of time, and it exists in YOU, as you.

Your name is simply something you answer to. Your job or profession is simply something you do for a living. Your religion is simply a story you believe. Your politics are simply imposed values that you adopted. None of the above are your identity. Those and other labels are adopted masks we use the play the game of life here in three (four, counting time) dimensions on earth.

Take some time out, drop your adopted identities for a while...get silent...close your eyes and feel your breathing process. You may even get still enough to feel your heart beat, the rhythm of the heartbeat...observe it with a sense of wonder. Let the eternal I AM Presence be known in you. It's okay to drop all your masks for a while and simply be. You won't think yourself into Presence, you feel your way there. It is not an emotion...it is a subtle sublimity that is unmistakable and unforgettable. This link is a guide to meditative practice and silent stillness.

By now most people are aware that news we receive by television and newspapers is slanted, biased and deliberately deceptive. Many times this is accomplished to favor the 'official story' of any event, the political/economic system in place or to protect the person(s) in power. Not so much any 'elected official', but to deflect criticism of the office the person holds.

However, many people are not aware of another robust disinformation system in place. - The Internet. This is the dark side of the internet. As much as access to all types of knowledge and information has exposed many people to deeper truths and understanding; the internet has also facilitated a deeper darkness for the willfully ignorant among us. For the unthinking among us, the internet can be used to poison the well. There are websites maintained by think tanks of all political persuasions, government alphabet agencies and corporate propagandists whose very purpose is poisoning the information well with untruths.

Over the last several generations the collective plurality of the American intellect has been constricted, narrowed down to a myopic perspective. Many, maybe most Americans have been cognitively captured into narrowed thinking ideological prisons. Many of these intellectual penitentiaries exist on the world-wide web. Black and white thinking, cognitive dissonance, false dichotomies and logical fallacies are all majorly fueled on the internet. All or nothing, black and white polarized extremes is a potent intellectual/psychological control tool for those in power. The people are herded into extreme ideological gulags, divided and distracted to the point that their power is neutralized.We are at war with each other. False psychological propaganda is the first act of war. This conflict has been facilitated by the 'owners' (nsfw).

“Political and economic power in the United States is concentrated in the hands of a “ruling elite” that controls most of U.S.-based multinational corporations, major communication media, the most influential foundations, major private universities and most public utilities. Founded in 1921, the Council of Foreign Relations is the key link between the large corporations and the federal government. It has been called a “school for statesmen” and “comes close to being an organ of what C. Wright Mills has called the Power Elite – a group of men, similar in interest and outlook shaping events from invulnerable positions behind the scenes. The creation of the United Nations was a Council project, as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.” - Steve Jacobson, Mind Control in the United StatesMake no mistake, there is a clearing house of converging interests for the owners of this world. These owners are exceedingly proficient at controlling and manipulating public perception. The most effective way to disable the mass mind is to severely limit it's thought process, by polarizing almost every issue. A polarized public cannot inhabit common ground on any issue. Another way is for the corporate owned media to manufacture issues of polarization; like, gun control that generate all heat but shed no light, but I digress....Noam Chomsky says - “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....” The major portions of all of our lives are lived in the infinite gray. Yet culturally, politically and our social interaction is becoming perceived as more and more black and white. That is not an organic development. There is a reason that the radical right wing gets a lot of undue attention. Their message is polarizing. The owners of this world aren't radically right wing, or liberal or socialist or even conservative...they're just in power and control of the resources and will use any strategy to stay in power and control the resources of the world. Give one group of unconscious people (right wingers) an 'enemy' to hate, be it liberals, socialists, Muslims, gays etc, then that will be their focus, tell them that members of those groups are threatening their very way of life, and watch that group become useful idiots for the status quo. The owners then manage the heat generated by their manufactured life or death conflict and merrily count their proceeds and consolidate their control in a safe and secure (for them) atmosphere. Tai Carmen eloquently states - "Social systems reinforce this kind of polarized thinking. For example, if you want to identify with a political party of any influence in the United States you have two choices: either you can identify as pro-peace, pro-gay, pro-tax, pro-regulation, pro-choice and anti-gun or pro-military, anti-gay, anti-tax, pro-free market, pro-life and pro-gun.What if you are pro-gay, pro-free market, anti-tax, pro-life, pro-peace and pro-gun? Too bad. Pick a side or your vote yields no power. Cultural splitting such as this encourages people to think in unnecessarily polarized terms."The public's inability to discern where the common ground is and become able to work from there is definitely an artificially constructed paradigm. The concrete foundation of this fabricated model of mass control is fear, fear of each other. The main pillar of this imposed fear is mistrust. Public fear and mistrust of each other germinate fascism. Citizens of a fascist society are not thinkers, they're reactors to stimulus...likened to zombies. Frankly I have come to the point where I have no idea of how we as a people step back from the fascist abyss. Those of us that are paying attention know that we're right on the precipice, that this country has willingly rushed to the cliff and most are awaiting the cue to take the plunge into the dark depths of civil unrest and possibly civil war...we've unconsciously allowed our bigotry, fears and juvenile insecurities to be plucked like bass fiddles. Maybe this country has to be psychologically torn asunder as to become able to resurrect it's innate natural human connectedness. I do know that 'freedom' and 'liberty' are not things that are granted from something or someone outside of ourselves. A human being decides, discovers...nurtures an inner freedom, a responsible, compassionate, internally maintained freedom that is invulnerable. “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.

Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.” - Edward Bernays, PropagandaLove...always Love, Duane Townsend

I have had several lively discussions lately with second amendment defenders, and modern militia movement members. Those encounters have convinced me that they have already lost.

The Cliven Bundy cattle grazing saga inspired this writing. I have no favorites in this fight. As an observer, it's apparent the government has won. Even if it doesn't collect a quarter from Cliven Bundy, it won. The militia movement which came to Bundy's aid, stepped ignorantly into the government trap. Government forces, in an awesome strategic ju-jitsu maneuver, stood down when the militia showed up armed and itching for a fight. They, the militia, had already lost sight of their objective. The government accomplished its goal. They gave the media an image of the militia as trigger happy extremists, and dangerous buffoons. The government was left with the image of restraint, and the cooler head. The militia has doubled down on its ignorance by setting up checkpoints around the town where Bundy lives, requiring residents to prove residency. So much for winning the hearts and the minds of the people.Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

I wondered; How could the militia be so self defeating? They lost all vision of the big picture. They have lost their battle without a defining struggle.The following is why I cannot stand with them. It is why I actively stand against them.

They are of the belief that legislation and the stroke of a pen will make their beloved weapons magically disappear. They have already conceded their power to their supposed enemy. They like to imagine themselves as 'freedom' fighters' and 'patriots'. But they're afraid to be lawbreakers. Their sole focus is on the actions of their alleged enemy, the government. But not on the enemy within. I use the word 'enemy' advisedly, from the perspective of the militia member. In actuality, that which you deem an enemy has already defeated you. You lose your connection to their humanity, the enemy becomes a narrow self created illusion and a projector screen for your own self hatred. Enemies make you blind.

Opposing forces are not always our enemy. Opposing forces are many times mirror reflections of ourselves, manifest to work with us...to build our own strength. When faced with an opposing force (an enemy), it is best to examine oneself while in contact. To know deeply ones own inner habits and responses, and more importantly, why? Not to obsessively examine your supposed enemy's reaction to you. To focus on your supposed enemy is to be mesmerized by it, and in turn under its control. Think of a prize fighter preparing for a title fight. Yes, they view video of their opponent, but that is not the major focus of their training. The major focus of their training is actually re-training their own selves.

When an opponent throws a jab, what do I normally do?How can I respond to jabs in a different manner than my habit?

Which brings me to the most critical section of this piece - Self Knowledge.

The modern militia movement may be the least self aware segment of American culture. Theirs is a manufactured, illusory identity. Many times they come off as caricatures, little more than cliches. They seem like little more than gangbangers in camo and hunting boots. Their opponent controls their image and their reactions to stimuli. They seem to be easily manipulated and used. There is an unmistakable bigotry that weaves through it's ideology. I intentionally didn't use the term 'racism', racism implies a position of power. The modern militia movement has no power. They are not warriors, they're soldiers.(this link is highly recommended, it's 30 minutes so please watch after reading). Senseidave relates the difference between a soldier and a warrior -"A soldier is basically a mercenary for hire, fights for pay, has been given a mission, a mandate to follow, and follows orders. And who works in a very rigid, compliant, obedient mindset.The warrior on the other hand is the rebel, the warrior fights for a cause that is noble, there is no more noble cause than self redemption from ignorance of who and what you are. That is your greatest cause and you are your greatest adversary. . ." (paraphrased)The second amendment patriot has been programmed with an identity as an American, has little knowledge of the depth of his human being-ness, and cares less about the humanity of others. Their mythological script is the U.S. constitution and the rights bestowed on them by the very entity they're arming themselves against. The madness in that is comical.Which brings to my next critical point...madness. In this case anger. This is an angry bunch. They haven't mastered their own anger, so they've been led, deceived into projecting the causes of their outrage onto others. The government, blacks, latinos, gays, immigrants, Muslims and simply poor folks in general...the targets of their anger are numerous and never seen in their own reflection. That is victim mentality.

There was a tribe of indigenous people living in the rain forest of Venezuela. One day the President of Venezuela granted this tribe their autonomy. When the newscasters went to the tribal elders and sought their reaction to the President's decree; the tribal elders answered, rather sincerely mind you; "what's a Venezuela?"

So, to the militia movement, I say with all due love and sincerity. Yes, change is afoot. Consciousness raising, paradigm shifting change. From where I sit, this change will not be accomplished at the end of a rifle. This change is accomplished by the inward battle, overcoming limited imagination and narrow thinking. Finding common ground with diverse others and standing in that. This is not an appeal to pacifism. I am not a pacifist. I simply believe that if physical, armed conflict is necessary, one must fight from a deep knowing of oneself, and a broader base, or be used spitefully by others to fight battles not your own. If your only connections, and friendships are other people like you, then you're not knowing yourself. If you cannot see the point of view of disparate others, then you're simply narrow minded, and bigoted.

You want sovereignty, you need to know what a sovereign understands. Sovereignty is firstly about personal responsibility. However, a true sovereign is considerate of others, embodies the 'do unto others. . .' maxim. Personally, I think that for the most part the wrong kind of people have seized the idea of sovereignty. If you don't care about the conditions of others, if you think you're an island in the sea of humanity...then you're not sovereign at all. You're a spoiled kid.

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war and seek to win" ~ Sun Tzu

Overcome your inner opponent first. You probably will not have to fight an outer opponent ever again.